The mangled remains of the front of the 1993 Honda Civic that Michael Minson was driving on Aug. 11 are towed away from the scene.
Gabe Souza/Staff Photographer

The condition of a woman injured in a car crash that killed her 4-year-old son has improved and new information about the accident has been released.

Crystal Petersen of Gray was critically injured in the crash in Casco on Aug. 11, but her condition has improved to serious, according to a spokesman for Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston. Petersen, 26 at the time of the crash, was a passenger in the 1993 Honda Civic driven by her boyfriend, Michael S. Minson, 28, of Casco.

First responders reconstruct the accident on Aug. 11 in Casco that killed 4-year-old Cameron Joseph Petersen and injured his mother, Crystal Petersen of Gray. Petersen's condition has been upgraded to serious.
Gabe Souza/Staff Photographer

Petersen’s son, Cameron Joseph Petersen, was ejected from the car when it hit a utility pole. He died at the scene.

Minson had never had a license to drive, yet his right to drive had been suspended when he crashed on Route 11.

Minson was apparently racing to get to work at Dunkin’ Donuts in Naples. He and Petersen had been dating for less than two weeks, family members said, and he had stayed with her the previous few nights.

Minson had been tailgating one car, had just passed it and was trying to pass another on the inside edge of a curve when he lost control and crashed into the utility pole, severing the car behind the front seats, according to a crash report. The report says he was operating the vehicle in an “erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner” and that he was exceeding the 50 mph speed limit – though it doesn’t say by how much.

The report says results of blood tests for drug or alcohol use were pending, but it does include the deputy’s observation that Minson’s pupils were “pin pointed.” Pinpoint pupils is one of the signs drug recognition experts look for to determine whether a driver is under the influence of opiates such as morphine, heroin, codeine or methadone.

The report also lists Cameron as having been restrained in a booster seat, though officials said immediately after the crash that they were not certain whether the boy had been belted in. Family members said Petersen was insistent that Cameron be strapped into his booster seat, even playing a game in which the car wouldn’t start if his belt wasn’t buckled.

The information was made available as part of the crash report prepared by Cumberland County Sheriff’s Deputy Al Winslow the day of the crash. It does not include the detailed information generated by the accident reconstruction, which has not been completed.

All three occupants of the car suffered head injuries in the crash.

Cameron was pronounced dead at the scene when responders discovered his body a short distance from the crash site at the base of some trees.

Petersen has been hospitalized since the accident.

Minson was treated at Maine Medical Center in Portland and released.

The investigation into the accident is continuing and Minson has not been charged with any crimes connected to the crash, although authorities say some charges are likely.

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